Simply the Story: Join Britain’s first ‘Simply The Story’ Training

When?  26th June-30th June 2017

Leadership training: 26th June to 30th June

Practitioner training: Afternoon of 28th June to 30th June

Where? Simply The Story training will be held at;

Youth With A Mission, Stanely House
14 Stanely Crescent
Paisley
PA2 9LF
Scotland
United Kingdom

What is “Simply the Story”?

Over 80% of the world cannot or does not prefer to learn from reading. Story is the communication vehicle of choice for these oral learners. It’s interesting that the Bible is 75% narrative, in a story format.

Learn ways to tell fascinating, accurate Biblical stories which lead to interactive discussion on Bible passages. Listeners participate actively, grasp truths and pass them on! The whole training is oral with all attendees receiving the STS handbook and Practitioner training CD at the end.

Do you want to:

• Enhance local ministry in the church?
• Equip teams for short term mission trips?
• Maximize church planting on the mission field at home or further afield?
• Witness naturally at work?
• Add richness to family devotions?

Leadership training: During the first 18 hours of training you will be equipped to be an STS Practitioner. Then you will assist in training the Practitioner Workshop attendees who join on Wednesday afternoon. You will learn skills in how to teach others, who can then teach others.

Practitioner training: This is 18 hours of hands-on training, learning how to tell Bible stories and teaching in a discussion style. Practice designing questions that help family, friends and gatherings which will enable them to discover spiritual treasures and personal applications within Bible passages.

Info? www.simplythestory.org

Attendance? You can either be residential at YWAM Paisley which is dorm style accommodation, if you have to come a long way or just join the training on a daily basis.

For details and an application form please contact Anne Pitcher on annepitcherstoryteller@hotmail.co.uk, landline 01505-702586, mobile 07708059770.

For accommodation enquiries contact Mary McCorkle at mary@ywamscotland.org

Questions about the five day option- contact Bryan Thompson at 0044-2838820051 or bt@simplythestory.org

Anne Pitcher tells us her own story below:

As a committed Christian I do a lot of Biblical storytelling. I was intrigued when I heard about “Simply the Story” from my husband’s friend Phil Horton in Portugal who knew I did a lot of Biblical storytelling in Scotland and might be interested in this approach. Phil said that this was a way of exploring the Bible completely orally with anyone, through storytelling and my interest was indeed captured.

 I discovered that there was an STS training in Marseille at the same time as I would be there storytelling in French and English as part of the twinning of Glasgow and Marseille. But unfortunately I was going to be telling stories at the time! So I ended up going to the nearest training which was in Greystones [Ireland] in April 2015. The five day long training has transformed my approach to engaging people in the Bible and in Biblical storytelling

What is different about the training is that it is completely oral for a kick off. Having been used to writing to take note of what I learned as I go along, I found it quite a discipline not to do so –the emphasis is on learning to do this orally. Also you have to stick to just looking at one short Biblical story of about 11 lines, giving the context so that those you are exploring the passage with know where and when it is set. It’s quite a discipline to stick to just one short story, especially if you’ve been a Christian for a long time and know about what comes before and what comes afterwards. But the beauty of “Simply the Story” it is that not only is it a way of sharing Bible stories with people who are illiterate but those who are literate people as well.

Bryan Thompson, the European Director of STS told me about a training he did in Egypt where they had an illiterate nomadic tribeswoman and a professor in physics at the local university both doing the STS training on an equal footing because it is done orally.

How does it work in practice?

The storyteller takes one short Bible passage, sets the context of what is happening just before the story, then tells the story actively and accurately. Then a volunteer from the group of people is invited to re-tell just what they can remember, then the storyteller guides the group together to re-tell it again. The story is then explored with the teller’s guidance interactively – it is NOT preaching and NOT teaching – the idea is that together people find out what the story has to say about God to them. Then together, guided by the teller, they look at ways the story might help them in their lives.

Over the past two years I have since used “Simply the Story” in my own church, Hopehall Evangelical Church in Paisley both during the morning and evening services and in my house group and in a local interdenominational Bible Study in Paisley. Every time I do it, I gain new insights things into what the Bible has to say and every time the people engaged in Simply the Story have found the same.

 For me personally it has changed the way I study the Bible and I can highly recommend either doing the Practitioner’s training which is two and a half days, where you learn how to use STS or the five day Leadership training where you begin to learn how to teach others to use STS.